From: Trevor Young, Vice-President & Provost
Date: December 19, 2024
Re: Update on the Dean, Faculty of Music (PDAD&C #18)

I am writing to let you know that Professor Ellie Hisama has decided to step down from her appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Music, effective December 31, 2024, due to family reasons. I am nonetheless delighted she will be returning as a distinguished professor to focus on research and teaching.

The University of Toronto and the Faculty of Music have benefited greatly from Professor Hisama’s leadership. Under her guidance since 2021, the Faculty has continued to pursue excellence in research and performance; built a foundation for growth in the years ahead; and made substantial improvements to its climate and culture including in the teaching and learning environments. During her tenure as Dean, she led successful fundraising efforts in support of the Faculty’s mission. She helped to secure one of the most significant gifts benefiting music in Canada, a $7 million gift in support of a new venue, the Jay Telfer Forum.

Professor Hisama commissioned a Climate and Culture Review, which shed light on the historic and ongoing inequalities in the Faculty and discipline of music, and provided pathways forward to address these issues including establishing the Faculty of Music’s Task Force on Equity & Belonging. Under Professor Hisama’s leadership, the Faculty prioritized community engagement projects including Future Sound Six, a workshop that brought together the Faculty of Music’s renowned Electronic Music Studio and the YWCA Scarborough.

During her six-month administrative leave earlier this year, Professor Hisama took up a prestigious fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She was invited to join Columbia University’s Society of Senior Scholars and received an Honorary Membership from the American Musicological Society, its highest honour, in recognition of her outstanding lifetime contributions to the field and to the Society.

The Agenda Committee of Academic Board has approved an extension to the appointment of Professor Ryan McClelland as Acting Dean of the Faculty of Music to June 30, 2025; as Professor Hisama has stepped down as Dean, his title will become Interim Dean as of January 1.

I wish to thank Professors Hisama and McClelland for their past and ongoing contributions to the Faculty and will be sharing more information regarding the leadership of the Faculty in the coming months.